Friday, February 14, 2020

"No bail, no jail" for DHS Defendants.

The DHS scandal welcomed the "no bail, no jail" movement to Hinds County last week.  District Attorney Jody Owens didn't request bail for any of the defendants, thus none of them had to post bail, not even those accused of embezzling millions of dollars.  They were simply released on their own recognizance. 

 A Hinds County grand jury indicted former DHS Director Jim Davis, MCEC Executive Director Nancy New, MCEC Deputy Director Zach New, MCEC accountant Ann McGrew,  former DHS employee  Latimer Smith, and Brett Dibiase last week for allegedly participating in a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme that defrauded DHS of state funds.  The indictments charged the News with embezzling over $4.15 million through their non-profit organization, MCEC.

Hinds County prosecutors did not ask for bail so the defendants were all released on their own recognizance.  Circuit Judge Adrienne Whooten found out and said hell to the no.  She issued bench warrants for the two defendants assigned to her, Ann McGrew and John Davis.  Judge Whooten set bail at $150,000 for Davis and $200,000 for McGrew.  The indictments charge McGrew with helping the News embezzle several million dollars while Davis stands accused of using DHS funds to pay phony invoices for Brett Dibiase as well as his drug treatment.


Kingfish note: Good for Judge Whooten.  The outrage on social media was quite telling last week when it was discovered none of the defendants had to post bail.  However, most of the people screaming bloody murder over "welfare kings and queens" going free without posting bail are the same ones who like every article pushing "no bail, no jail" for non-violent offenders.   Cliff Johnson and Empower Mississippi wax ever so eloquently in long columns pushing the cause.  It is rather funny because they all just assume "non-violent" means arrests for shoplifting or having a dime-bag.  It never occurred to them what it really means: no bail for thieves who steal with a pen instead of a pistol. 

Well, guess what, folks? Your District Attorney is practicing what he preaches.  Mr. Owens advocates the abolition of cash bail for non-violent crimes Indeed, Mr. Owens told the Jackson Free Press last year:

The current bail system is used "to tax poor people" in Mississippi, Owens maintains. "My general rule is that bail, period, is for public safety and a deterrent (to) flight risk,"
 He has repeatedly said he wants to end cash bail for "non-violent" crimes.  Well, you knuckleheads never stopped to think what that actually meant. Now you know what no bail, no jail really means after learning that lesson the hard way.  Don't bitch, don't moan.  This is what you voted for so suck it up and quit your bitching.  You wanted this, you voted for this, and now you got this.  Sucks to be you, doesn't it?

Oh, and don't forget the media.  Don't expect the folks over at Barksdale Today and the Jackson Free Press to even mention this.  They actually believe in this no-bail, no jail crap. 







23 comments:

Anonymous said...

The purpose of bail is to ensure defendants appear in court. Period. Read that on repeat until it sinks in.

Kent Dear said...

What is "Barksdale Today"?

Anonymous said...

let people stay out or jail who are awaiting trial who aren’t violent? great move. we don’t need tax dollars room and boarding these kinds of criminals. violent crimes- no bail and rot in jail.

Anonymous said...

There are hundreds of thousands of people sitting in jail right now who haven't been convicted of a crime because they are poor and cannot afford cash bail. These folks can often sit in jail for months and years before their case is heard. Bail is not designed to punish people; like 10:02am said above, it is to ensure defendants appear in court. Our country in general and states like Mississippi and Louisiana in particular have the highest incarceration rates in the world, but it's never enough for folks like Kingfish who revel in harming the poor as much as possible and don't believe in "innocent until proven guilty", only in throwing as many people into jail as possible. The USA has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners. Is it working?

I support bail reform.

Anonymous said...

zack new, nancy new, lattimar, and Dibiase are alll assigned to judge tommie greene. she releasees all of them ROR, which means no one has to post so much as a nickel to get out of jail.
ann McGrew and john davis are assigned to judge wooten. McGrew is required to post a 200,000$ bond and davis is required to post a 150,000$ bond.
please somebody explain the lack of consistency among the circuit judges when setting bail bonds.

Anonymous said...

Other than line the pockets of bail bondsmen, why should these people have to post bail, Kingfish? Are they flight risks? Do you not subscribe to the constitutional principle of innocent until proven guilty?

Anonymous said...

It's called grandstanding. Neither Judge gives one less damn but it all depends on which audience you want to play to...The judicial reformers who would initiate sweeping changes or the "downtrodden' masses who want to see the rich folks get the same kick in the ass. Your choice in Hinds County.

Victor Fleitas said...

Judge reacts to public outrage over charges to unilaterally impose bail on non-violent offenders who pose little to no risk of flight.

Prosecutor adheres to his stated policy of not pushing for cash bail simply because of the public outrage over the charges and because of the wealth of these defendants thus treating "rich folks" like he wants "poor folks" to be treated.

Reasonable people could disagree about whether or not these particular defendants should be required to post bail and what the amount of that bail and conditions of release should be.

No reasonable person can think the imposition of high bail to satiate public outrage and punish the accused before trial is proper. I see zero cause for anger towards the prosecutor or anyone else.

The days of using exorbitant bail to punish defendants and keep them locked-up before trial need to end for all defendants and particularly for those accused of non-violent offenses.

Kingfish, why do you presume that those of us who care about this issue would feel bad about or regret the application of a no cash bail policy to these or any other defendants? Is it because you "heard" a clamor over these defendants not posting cash bail on The Facebook?

Anonymous said...

Jody Owens starting off with a bang. How much more egg can he get on his face? My guess is in the 5 dozen range.

Anonymous said...

@10:45
Only two words: Hinds county.

Anonymous said...

DAs office was concerned they would post bond with TANF money.

Anonymous said...

These defendants are not a danger to the community, but they are a flight risk. They are facing possible long jail sentences and they presumably have the financial means to flee. One option would be to puta GPS monitor on them at their expense. Set a curfew and limitations on where they can go. Then, if they don't adhere to the court's order, send them to Raymond.

Bill Dees said...

Ditto @10:02 Maybe take their passports.

Anonymous said...

Here comes AFP applauding Tommi Green and her No Bail Machine. Tell me again why AFP try to convince people they are part of the conservative movement? More like a bunch oF LIBERAL NUT JOBS.

PittPanther said...

Not sure who KF is talking to in his rant, but I'm perfectly ok with the DHS 6 getting no Bail. And they would pay Bail with stolen money anyhow, so what's the point?

Fingers crossed said...

I can only hope Jody Owens is the next victim of a repeated crime by these no bail no jail criminals.

Anonymous said...

Tiered justice. Disgusting. Bail is fine in MS for everyone else.

Anonymous said...

Didn't the Rose Cochran photo crew all get $500,000 bail from Hon. Dollar Danks?

Anonymous said...

We have three newspapers in Lumumbaville, The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi Today and the Jackson Free Press. The first two are Democrat mouth pieces, the third thinks democrats are too conservative. All three struggle.

Jackson Jambalaya is somewhat conservative is it is thriving.

Media today have the Henry Ford approach to selling Model-T Fords, "You can buy a Model T in any color as long as the color is black." Camille Paglia of the New York Times correctly stated that journalism is dead and has zero credibility and that death was inflicted by journalists.

Unknown said...

I regret that I haven't followed this story on JJ. I do have a question. How does a washed up wannabe, drug addicted, former pro wrester rise to the level of Bureau Director in a large state agency with no education, experience, or credentials? Even with the obvious good ole boys' network at play this seems like a stretch. There must be something else. What?

Anonymous said...

Legally speaking, why did DA Owens allow the defendants to avoid posting bail?

Anonymous said...

Bail is a right under our constitution, except in a limited set of circumstances.

Bail’s purpose is not punishment, it’s to protect the community and ensure appearance in court.

Why WOULDN’T they be RoR’d? The crimes aren’t violent and all are tied to the community. If they were foreign nationals, maybe... but they’re all coming back to court, short of suicide.

Anonymous said...

Only the poor have to worry about going to jail because they can't post bail or no bail is required.

If your going to be a criminal be a white collar criminal. White collar criminals rarely go to jail and if they do it isn't for long.



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